To Be Luminous || HP [REVIVAL 2021]

Chapter Eight

Spiral Galaxies Turn In Your Eyes

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She hears knuckles rapping softly against stone. He's twenty minutes til' midnight, but she's not surprised he comes early. Kiara nods to herself, sitting upon the window with her head down. Her eyes go over the faint lines she's drawn.

To her visitor, she says, "I knew you would be here."

"Oh, Kiara? I must be in the wrong tower," Albus jokes. He looks around as though he's lost. Kiara rests her cheek on her palm and smiles at him.

"That was so dorky."

Albus clutches his heart as though wounded, and meanders slowly into the tower. He looks around, before quietly walking to where she sits, and leans his hands against the sill. He doesn't shiver in the late night of the early spring chill, and even dips his head out to look over the dark landscape.

When she moves to get more comfortable, he turns to greet her—suddenly his elbow folds over her thigh, and their shoulders touch ever-so-slightly.

Their faces are inches apart.

His dark green eyes flick up to catch her gaze, and she holds it.

"Admit it to me," she challenges him softly. "You could not help yourself from coming."

"What can I say? Curiosity attracts curiosity."

Albus pulls away and hops up onto the tower window beside her, while Kiara looks back down at her star maps and calculates what ought to go where. It seems with Albus that the both of them are comfortable melting one moment into the next, despite what could have been an awkward encounter. He turns to face her with his legs crossed, and leans forward over his shins.

His fingers tap the sill repeatedly.

"Why do you draw all your own sky charts, Kiara?"

He picks up the brass compass that she uses for the perfect circles. The needle makes a soft click-click-clicking sound as he strikes it gently against the stone.

"This is how I study."

Albus shakes his head. "I bet I have to study twice as hard as you do. Everyone says you're a natural with everything."

"You envy that."

"Well, yeah. Of course."

"You should not. I have a hard time with other things—things that come naturally to you. While you can make connections with every person you meet, no matter what House they are in, I struggle to have any friends. Even with other Ravenclaws."

He says, "What about Callie? I saw you two at the last Quidditch match together."

"She is a fair-weather friend. I have trouble relating to her."